Leisure, Internet Use and Alcohol Behavior in Adolescence

Abstract

The paper aims to describe regular leisure activities in the sample and identify the connections between alcohol use (binge, regular use) and leisure activities (categories). In the research, we verify the association between specific types of leisure activities and alcohol use among adolescents. The research sample consists of 533 adolescents (295 girls and 258 boys). The participants’ ages range from 14 to 20 years. The questionnaire battery consisted of two questionnaires, namely a questionnaire on situation-motivational alcohol behavior factors and a questionnaire of leisure time and peer relationships. We identified a prevalence of regular drinking, which is 78.8%, and the prevalence of binge drinking in the sample of adolescents is 34.0%. We also identified that the most frequent category of leisure activities in the sample is the combined category of friends and Internet (35.4%). Furthermore, there are statistically significant differences in the incidence of regular and binge drinking between groups of adolescents concerning the form of regular leisure time. Understanding the connection between alcohol consumption and leisure activities is vital to prevention and risk-reduction efforts.